Railway-switch



(No Model.)

N. BRUNKER. RAILWAY SWITCH.

No. 453,405. Patented June 2 1891.

.dliorngy m: mums PETERS 0a,, PHDTO-LXTHCL, WASHINGTON, a. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF CE.

NEPHI BRUNKERfo'F SWAN LAKEJDAHO.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATIONfOrniing part of Letters Patent No. 453,405, dated June 2, 1891.

Application filed July 12, 1890.

T aZZ whom it'mwy concern.-

Be it known that I, NEPHI BRUNKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Swan Lake, in the county of Bingham and State of Idaho, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Switches; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to made and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in railroad-switches, audit has for its object to provide suitable means whereby a train may by suitable attachments automatically open or close the switch, and whereby the movement of one only of the opposite points of the switch by means of the switch-lever or its equivalent is necessary, the opposite point being moved by the pressure of the truck-wheels of the locomotive upon the first-named point, thereby obviating the danger resulting from the locomotive jumping the switch; and for this purpose my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the parts of which it is composed, as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed. e

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which corresponding parts are designated by corresponding letters-Figure l is a plan view of a switch constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is an elevation of one of the switch toggle-joints. Fig. 3 is a detail showing a modified form of a switchactuating mechanism.

The main-track rails A A are shown in the drawings as forming a junction with the trackrails B B and O O, the rails A and B and A and 0 being continuous, the said tracks being branched off in opposite directions. The ends of the rails C and B terminate in spring noses O and B the nose B beinglonger than the nose 0 and being sprung inward opposite the forward end of the nose 0 with which it is connected by the cross-piece o.

In order to manipulate the switch-noses B and 0 I provide the cross-bar G, crossing the track below the track-rails A A and switch- Serial No. 358,506. (No model.)

noses C and B? and connected tothe crosspiece a by the link 0. The ends of the bar G are bent upward, each end having two springs g thereon.

J are elbow-levers, pivoted at j to a crosstie J. To one of these is connected a slidebar K, which in turn is connected to one bar K of a knuckle or toggle joint, whose opposite bar K is pivoted at l to a cross-tie L. The elbow-lever is provided with a hole at its outer end, through which the switch-rod G passes, the elbow-lever being held between the springs g on the end thereof. At the opposite end of the rod G, which is outside of the rail A and B, the springs g g and the elbowlever J, connecting bar and toggle-joint, are duplicated, this joint being marked M.

To the ends of a tie R links B have their lower ends pivoted, their upper ends being pivotally secured to the forward end of the depressing-arms R the rear ends of which rest upon the pins 0', projecting from the outer sides of the bars K of the toggle-joint, and it will be thus readily understood that on depressing either of the said arms the corresponding toggle-joint will also be depressed.

N N are rollers attached to the engine in a position to permit their adjustment, so that they may one at a time be brought into contact with one of the depressing-arms which is up. This causes the knuckles to be pressed down, and consequently lengthened, thus, through the medium of the levers, causing the switch to be operated, as will be further described. When one of the knuckles or toggle-joints is pressed down, the other must rise, and inasmuch as the joint which is down is to all intents and purposes locked against raising it by end-pressure, I provide for raising it otherwise.

0 is a rod pivoted in suitable bearings under the rail, having at its ends cranks P P,which set in opposite directions one under the toggle-joint of the right and the other under that of the left, so that when one crank is pressed by the pressure of the roll on the toggle-joint, the other is raised, thus raising the other toggle-joint.

It will be understood that when the joint M is depressed the forward end of the nose B will be snug against the inside of the rail A, while the nose 0 will be correspondingly away from the rails A, as this may be called the normal position of the switch. If a locomotive now comes down the track in the direction of the arrow, the forward wheels thereof on the side of the rail A will strike the inwardly-sprung portion of the nose B before the wheels upon the opposite side have reached the forward end of the nose C, which willbe drawn still farther away from the rail A by the connecting cross-piece c, permitting the train to run upon the rails B B. It will also be evident that if a train coming in the direction of the arrow depresses,-by means of its roller, the joint K K that the rod G will be thrown over toward the rail A, carrying with it the end of the nose 13*, (the spring of its spring portion permitting this,) thus opening the tracks 0 O, the spring of the nose B holding the nose (1 securely against the rail.

In some cases I may desire to do away with the toggle-joints entirely and manipulate the switches by the ordinary hand or target lever or switoh. In such cases I connect the pivoted lever S of the target-switch with the one end of the rod G by means of the rod S, which has bends 8 formed therein, these bends, (as the rod is of spring metal) furnishing the desired elasticity to hold the switches in place, and serving the same purpose as the springs g g upon the rods G.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In combination, the switch, the switchrod, the elbow-lever, and the toggle or knuckle joint adapted to be depressed by the engine, as set forth.

2. In combination, the switch, its rod, the elbow-levers, the knuckle joints, and the double-cranked rod, whereby the joints are operated in unison, as set forth.

3. In a railway-switch, the combination, with the main-track rails, of two switch-points between the said rails and connected together, one of the said points being sprunginwardly toward the center of the track at a point opposite the extreme end of the opposite point, and track-rails connected with the said switch-points, as described.

4. In a railway-switch, the combination, with track-rails and switch-points, of a rod connecting the said points, an elbow-lever on each side of said track connected with one end of said rod, a toggle-joint connected with each of the elbow-levers, an arm having its rear end bearing upon each of the said joints, a link having its opposite ends pivotally connected to the track-bed and to the forward portion of the said arm, and a rod below the said track, haying opposite cranks upon its opposite ends located below the said togglejoints, as described.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

NEPIII BRUNKER.

\Vitnesses:

HIRAM HAMSON, WILLIAM (JRABB. 

